Salford Red Devils were well-beaten by league leaders, Hull KR at St James’ Park.
Magic Weekend saw the festival of rugby league return to the North-East and Head Coach, Paul Rowley – hampered by the continued absence of Ryan Brierley and Chris Hankinson – had to reshuffle his pack once more.
There was, however, a moment to celebrate for Jack Ormondroyd, who made his 100th appearance in Salford colours.
James Batchelor thought he opened the scoring for KR, running a hard line on the right edge, but Ben Hellewell’s tackle did enough to dislodge the ball – confirmed via Salford’s Captain’s Challenge.
With Ethan Ryan back in the team, the Reds had a real running threat from fullback and his half-break earned us some valuable territory in the opening exchanges.
The Robins began to build back downfield and were handed a golden opportunity when Esan Marsters’ attempted intercept was put down.
Dean Hadley, running a similar line to his back-row partner made no mistake from the resulting set, spinning out of a challenge to slam down.
The setback did nothing to waiver Salford’s spirit, who constantly chanced their arm with some neat combinations in yardage.
A promising attack came to nothing when Kai Morgan’s grubber rolled dead – his right edge not quite in sync with his attempts to create an opportunity.
Shifting quickly down the other side of the field, KR struck again in front of the Gallowgate, with boyhood Newcastle United fan, Sam Luckley powering over for a similar try he scored in the red of Salford a few years ago.
The Robins struck again a few minutes later when Elliot Minchella’s strong drive set the platform for centre, Peta Hiku to take on the short side and throw the dummy to slide over.
A fourth try came from a Mikey Lewis break, deep inside the Rovers half. He raced 60 metres downfield and slipped in his teammate in Jez Litten to stroll under the sticks.
Coming back out for the second forty with a lot to do, Jayden Nikorima’s 40-20 put the Reds within range, but some strong defence restricted a wave of Salford attack, despite Nathan Connell’s efforts to stretch over after some neat footwork.
Going back down the other end, Lewis was at the heart of another break down the middle and had numerous opportunities to slot in a teammate, before finally flicking an offload to Batchelor, who made no mistake with the grounding this time.
Rovers were soon over again, this time through debutant, Noah Booth, who took in a neat Hiku flick pass to dot down in the right corner.
Litten scored his second after a series off offloads up the middle saw the hooker steal a march underneath the posts.
A battered and bruised Salford were doing it tough and a quick-fire double from fullback, Arthur Mourgue, who was also perfect from the kicking tee, took the KR total over 50 points.
With over a fortnight until the Reds’ next outing, the lads will have time to rest and reset ahead of another stretch of Super League fixtures.
MATCH FACTS:
Salford XIII: Jayden Nikorima, Ethan Ryan, Esan Marsters, Jonny Vaughan, Nathan Connell, Joe Shorrocks, Kai Morgan, Jack Ormondroyd, Sam Davis, Tiaki Chan, Ben Hellewell, Matty Foster, Harvey Makin.
Interchanges: Justin Sangare, George Hill, Toby Warren, Harvey Wilson.
Hull KR XIII: Arthur Mourgue, Noah Booth, Peta Hiku, Oliver Gildart, Jack Broadbent, Mikey Lewis, Tyrone May, Sauaso Sue, Jez Litten, Jai Whitbread, Dean Hadley, James Batchelor, Elliot Minchella.
Interchanges: Sam Luckley, Jack Brown, Eribe Doro, Bill Leyland.
Tries: Dean Hadley, Sam Luckley, Peta Hiku, Jez Litten (2), James Batchelor, Noah Booth, Arthur Mourgue (2).
Conversions: Arthur Mourgue (9/9)
HT: 24-0
FT: 54-0
